160:. This construction was the most modern brewery of its time, with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per year and capabilities of doubling production. By brewing just Lucky Lager, the General Brewing Company achieved a record of selling its entire daily production since the beginning of operations. The main reason for its success with consumers was the high beer quality, which came from aging the beer adequately, unlike many of its post-
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drinkers led to the ill-fated introduction of King
Snedley's Beer, an alternate brand in addition to Lucky. According to some accounts, King Snedley's was just Lucky Lager repackaged with a different brand and marketed toward counterculture consumers. The new brand flopped and was withdrawn from the market, though it reappeared briefly in 1975. As sales continued to decline, the Salt Lake City brewery was closed in 1967.
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circle in the center with the printed date of the beer, and the words "Lucky Lager" printed on both arms of the cross. The label was distinctive from traditional beer brands because of its simplicity and how easy it was to remember. It covered the whole surface of the can, and when piled, the combination of the crosses culminated in a sophisticated design. This design by
Charles Stafford Duncan, the art director of the
230:, began to produce Lucky Lager in the US. In July 2003, this brewery was also closed. Lucky Lager continued to be sold in its original Northern California range at Lucky Stores supermarkets, which although not affiliated, sold Lucky Lager as an unofficial value store brand, until Lucky Stores supermarkets were bought out by Albertson's and the name of the supermarkets was changed around 2000.
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by producing beer with plain white labels emblazoned with the word BEER. Rumors surfaced that BEER was simply repackaged Lucky Lager. When the generic craze died, and the microbrewery movement took off, General had difficulty maintaining profitability as a brewer of inexpensive beers. The fact that Lucky Lager tasted no worse than expensively advertised
149:– being made with high-quality ingredients, in a high-quality brewery, and with thorough aging. It was launched to significant fanfare and grew steadily, becoming the number two-selling beer in California by 1937. Starting in 1935, Lucky encouraged people to take the taste test and that they would choose Lucky.
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made of Lucky Beer containers; its body was a beer barrel, the neck, arms and legs were made of beer cans, and the head and feet were large bottles. One hand held a beer bottle, as well. Inside was a microphone and a speaker. An operator hid nearby where he could see the people in front of the robot.
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The original label for Lucky Lager has seen many changes. The large red cross was made less prominent in the 1950s, but it remained on the labels and on advertising. The label was redesigned and the cross was again made smaller in 1962, although it was still the design's focus. A subsequent design in
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Lucky Lager's marketing strategy also relied strongly on its packaging and label. In 1939, the
Pacific Advertising Club Association granted Lucky Lager the highest award for the most distinctive beer package. The history of the label started with the design of the very distinctive red cross, with a
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The Azusa brewery was closed immediately. The San
Francisco brewery was closed in 1978. This left Vancouver, Washington, and Cranston, Rhode Island, as the only locations where Lucky Lager was brewed. In the late 1970s, General Brewing took advantage of the "generic brand" marketing craze in the US
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The original advertising for the Lucky Lager brand centered on the large X emblem present on packaging and other marketing material, including the "Bonded Beer" slogan and age-dated beer canning. Lucky Lager was the first beer to include the date the beer was brewed on the can. This remained a
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Lucky Lager
Brewing Company changed its name back to General Brewing between 1963 and 1969 and then changed its name to Lucky Breweries, Inc. in 1969. As the national brands moved into California in the early 1960s, Lucky Lager's sales began to falter. An effort to increase sales with younger
308:, Lucky Lager changed the logo in an attempt to maintain itself relevant in the beer market. With the subsequent decline and end of Lucky Lager in the US, the beer continues to operate with an ever-changing identity under the control of Labatt, owners of the brand rights in Canada.
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From 1950 to 1960, Lucky Lager grew to be the sales leader in the entire
Western region. This was coupled with continued distribution expansion in an effort to saturate the western market. By 1962, Lucky Lager was producing and selling over two million barrels of beer per year.
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competitors of the time. Moreover, the production was set up in a way that no hands touched the beer or its container until the final step (bottling). In that sense, General
Brewing Company posted a bond of $ 1,000 as a guarantee that the age-date of the beer was authentic.
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use pictures to represent words or parts of words within a phrase. In the 1970s and 1980s, Lucky Lager, along with other brands controlled by beer magnate Paul
Kalmanovitz featured rebus puzzles on the underside of their bottle caps to engage consumers.
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During the early 1950s, one of the key brand slogans was "It's Lucky when you live in
California." It was seen on many billboards throughout California. As its distribution area grew, it became: "It's Lucky when you live in America".
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in reference to the kinds of foods, drinks, and drugs on which the
Mexican Johnny Pachuco model runs: "You can keep Johnny running on hamburgers, Taco Bell tacos, Lucky Lager beer, Thunderbird wine, yesca. . ." (Valdez)
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until 1961). Eugene teamed up with Paul C. von Gontard, a grandson of Aldophus Busch, and German brewmaster Julius Kerber, to launch a state-of-the-art brewery that could brew beer that rivalled those made in
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After WWII, General Brewing began rapid expansion to meet increasing demand. This included expanding into Azusa, California, in 1949, Vancouver, Washington, in 1950, and Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1960.
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Lucky Lager was launched in San Francisco by a series of newspaper, billboard, and street car advertisements. The ads announced Lucky would be a beer of high quality and would follow the tradition of
117:. Lucky Lager, the first beer of General Brewing Company, was commercially introduced in 1934. That same year, General Brewing Company also formed a strategic partnership with Coast Breweries in
384:. It ran with local DJs, but the same playlist across California, so people could listen to the same music while they were driving. It also sponsored various sports recaps and other programs.
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detailing the improvements of Lucky Draft over other light beers and emphasizing the aging and superior quality of Lucky. Most of their ads before 1965 featured imagery that is iconic with
435:, the characters are drinking Lucky Lager and local liquor stores are advertising the sale of Lucky Lager. The brand also appears in the barroom brawl scene in the 1968 movie
125:, as part of a consortium of several Canadian breweries. The General Brewing company expanded and opened Lucky Lager Brewing Company, a second brewery in
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in Victoria until 1982, when Labatt moved off the island and demolished the brewery to prevent any competition on the island. Labatt brewed Lucky out of
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bought Lucky Lager Brewing and merged it with Maier Brewing Company to form the General Brewing Company with S&P Corporation as its parent.
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of the Western United States during the 1950s and 1960s. In 2019, Pabst announced that the beer brand would be revived and would be brewed by
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Hernon, Peter and Terry Ganey. Under the Influence: The Unauthorized Story of the Anheuser-Busch Dynasty. (New York: Avon Books, 1992)
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did not impress a market of drinkers where image was frequently more important than taste. The brewery's fortunes began to decline.
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The General Brewing Company invested $ 1,000,000 to open its first brewery in San Francisco. It was planned and designed by
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Spectators could go up to the "talking package" and ask him questions about Lucky Lager and the Lucky robot would respond.
75:. Originally launched in 1934 by San Francisco-based General Brewing Company, Lucky Lager grew to be one of the prominent
246:, Alberta, in the same brewery where they produced Budweiser for all of Western Canada, and is still brewed to this day.
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Van Wieren, Dale P. American Breweries II (West Point, PA.: East Coast Breweriana Association, 1995) 17, 37, 372, 385.
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featuring a rebus under the cap. Since the closure of the Tumwater brewery, this famous bottle has been discontinued.
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Decamp, Bob. "It's Lucky When You Live in the West" Beer Cans and Brewery Collectibles (Feb/March 1997) 6–8.
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At the same time, the Maier Brewery was producing Brew 102, a favorite beer in postwar Southern California.
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Lucky, like most other beer brands at the time, was present on the radio, in print, and on TV. Early
682:"General Brewing Corporation Will Enter West Field" (Reno) Nevada State Journal. (11 April 1934) 10.
485:, a Lucky Lager sign appears in the "Rabbit Redux" episode. Cans of Lucky Lager appear in the film
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Novins, J. K. "General Brewing Corp. Begins Operations" Modern Brewery (March 1934) 52–54, 80–81.
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Novins, J. K. "Lucky Lager Centers Promotion on the Label" Modern Brewery (May 1939) 24–27, 66.
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415:(beaches, ranches, and mountains). Much of this imagery was echoed in their print advertising.
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In the 1960s, Lucky Lager Brewing Company sponsored the Lucky International Open. Lucky's 1963
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471:'s character gives the team Lucky Lagers to celebrate. Lucky Lager is featured in the 1982
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song-and-dance number and labeled Lucky as "Aged Just Right". Other ads featured
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429:, a Lucky Lager billboard is in the background in one scene. In the 1961 film
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685:"General Brewing Management Plan, The" Modern Brewery (December 1934) 43–46.
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is an American lager with U.S. brewing and distribution rights held by the
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the late '60s got rid of the cross entirely and replaced it with a large
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ad campaign included the song "Go Lively: Get Lucky", by Richard Adler.
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One of the more unusual promotions was the "Talking Package". It was a
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advertising agency in San Francisco, also won the Altman Prize of the
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throughout the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. It garnered endorsements from
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Lucky also sponsored a well-loved popular music radio show called
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623:"Historic San Francisco beer brand 'Lucky Lager' to be revived"
553:"Historic San Francisco beer brand 'Lucky Lager' to be revived"
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579:"Remember this beloved Bay Area beer? It's making a comeback"
528:"Remember this beloved Bay Area beer? It's making a comeback"
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central tenet of its advertising through the middle 1960s
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After the Vancouver brewery shut down in July 1985, the
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A Lucky Lager can from 1958: The top was opened with a
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455:'s character drinks Lucky Lager during the 1970 movie
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649:"You searched for LUCKY Lager – BeersOnFilm.com"
300:"L". With the rise of premium beer, led by
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606:"In the heady years of hope and..."
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